12 desperate sabbaticals, 6 from Zhejiang, the "Zhejiang" forces support half of the sky for the Chinese men s basketball team

Trend News Client reporter Cao Linbo

In the early morning of August 18, the Chinese men's basketball team fought with the strong enemy Australia after four quarters to the last moment, and finally lost to the opponent 89-90, winning the runner-up in the Asian Cup. This is also the second runner-up of the Asian Cup in the 2009 Tianjin Asian Cup. After nearly 10 years of dormant, this Chinese men's basketball team has performed an exciting performance that has not been seen in many years. What makes Zhejiang people proud is that the CBA Zhejiang Twins provide four main players: Hu Jinqiu, Zhu Junlong, Cheng Shuipeng and Yu Jiahao; Zhao Jiayi is also produced by Zhejiang Guangsha Men's Basketball Team Youth Training and has only recently transferred; Zhejiang Hailiang Foreign Language Middle School Youth Training Results Wang Junjie became the most eye-catching star in the team in this Asian Cup.

From Huipu Middle School to writing the inspirational legend of the county town of Naigao's national championship, to the first professional championship in Zhejiang Guangsha Men's Basketball Team's 20 years of hard work, to the recent purely grassroots "Zhejiang BA" popular everywhere, and in addition to working together to help the Chinese men's basketball return to the peak of Asia, Zhejiang Basketball's increasingly eye-catching momentum in recent years shows that it has become the most important force in the Chinese basketball territory.

At both ends of offense and defense, Zhejiang players have become important roles

Guo Shiqiang once said after the semi-finals: "Our Chinese men's basketball team does not have stars, but there are two old players, Zhao Rui and Hu Jinqiu. There is an old saying in China - if there is an old family, there are one treasure. Our team has two treasures."

This sentence shows the importance of Zhao Rui and Hu Jinqiu to the team. Hu Jinqiu's performance on the court was not as explosive as Zhao Rui, but his role in the team was the most indispensable.

Hu Jinqiu

Faced with various types of inside players in this Asian Cup, Hu Jinqiu still maintained his stable performance in the MVP level in the CBA League, scoring in double digits in 6 games, and averaged 16.5 points and 9.2 rebounds per game within 24.5 minutes, with a shooting percentage of up to 77.2%. Once the ball reaches his hand and enters the range, he can make steady shots, helping the team continue to increase points. He is the player that everyone can rest assured about the team. Even in the match against the South Korean team, Hu Jinqiu still wanted to continue fighting. The three single MVPs and the final selection of the best five-man lineup proved Hu Jinqiu's importance to this team.

Cheng Shuipeng

The Chinese Men's Basketball Team's offense this Asian Cup was very efficient, with the three-point shooting rate data of 41.2% ranked first in the tournament before the final, and Cheng Shuipeng also made a lot of contributions. He averaged 10 points and 2 assists per game, with a three-point shooting percentage of 53.8%. In the group stage, he was one of the team's best players and once surpassed Hu Jinqiu to become the team's scoring leader. In the match against South Korea and New Zealand, he was restricted on the offensive end, but he still performed tough on the defensive end, which was a part of the Chinese men's basketball team's iron-blooded defense. When facing Australia, Cheng Shuipeng scored 12 points, and hit three-pointers several times after the team was overtaken, which helped the team lead again.

Yu Jiahao

Yu Jiahao assumed the responsibility of sticking to the basket in this team that lacks the inside. It can be seen from the two games against South Korea and New Zealand that guarding the basket can bring great deterrence to the opponent, and fighting for rebounds and shooting will have some impact. Moreover, his most stable free throws in the team allow him to always gain something when hitting the basket. Yu Jiahao's role cannot be intuitively reflected by data, but the inside rotation between him and Hu Jinqiu is crucial. In addition to becoming sharp on the offensive end, the iron wall organized by the entire Chinese men's basketball team has obvious effects in the three games of the knockout round. Zhu Junlong, who is known for his defense in the league, is active in the front line of defense in this team, guarding against the opponent's arrow figures, allowing South Korea's top scorer Lee Hyun to make three-pointers. He has been able to carry Australian core Cooks in the finals and is sent off until five fouls. He is always seen in fighting for rebounds and joint defense. In the third-point battle against the South Korean team, he made 3 of 5 shots from outside the three-point line, and he also hit buzzer-beating many times, and he did not take a shot that was not difficult.

Of course, the Chinese men's basketball team can go all the way to the end of the Asian Cup, which is inseparable from the full play of everyone in the team. Previously, when talking about the selection criteria, head coach Guo Shiqiang mentioned: "We need to find 12 desperate players to form a team, and we need to find 5 desperate players on the court." The performance of the Chinese men's basketball team in this Asian Cup just confirms his words.

has not played in the CBA for a day. Wang Junjie, produced by Zhuji Hailiang, soared to the sky

If you want to say that the most amazing performance in the Chinese men's basketball team, you have to mention the young player Wang Junjie who made his debut in the official competition of the adult national team for the first time.

None would have thought that this young player born in 2005 and 2.06 meters tall had no experience in the CBA league. As soon as he entered the national team, he helped the Chinese men's basketball team achieve a series of victories with his nearly perfect performance.

Since the second group stage of the Asian Cup, Wang Junjie has been ranked in the starting lineup by Guo Shiqiang. He fulfilled his mission and always helped the team establish a leading advantage. In the knockout match against South Korea, he posted a picture after the game: "I hit myself and my brothers." Facing New Zealand players who are also playing in the NCAA, and even facing NBL players in the Australian team, he played hard, made a jump shot, and made three-pointers, without fear of confronting them.

Wang Junjie averaged 13 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game, with a shooting percentage of 56.1% and a three-point shooting percentage of 47.8%, becoming another stable scoring point for the team besides Zhao Rui and Hu Jinqiu, and was finally selected for the best team in this Asian Cup.

Such performance makes everyone admire Wang Junjie, a basketball talent who grew up under the training mode of non-traditional sports school in Zhuji Hailiang Foreign Language Middle School..

Wang Junjie updated his social account after the Asian Cup and wrote: "No one knows my story, they only know which page they meet me." In fact, his previous story is worth letting everyone know.

I still remember that in 2016, Mao Weilin, head coach of Hailiang basketball team, went to Xuzhou to visit friends. By chance, I learned that an 11-year-old boy named Wang Junjie was already outstanding among his peers, so I brought him back to Zhuji, where he studied in junior high school and high school. However, as a mentor who discovered Wang Junjie, Coach Mao Weilin still remembers his initial joining the team. "We can't unilaterally say that we discovered Wang Junjie, and he (family) also came here."

In the 2020 National U15 Game, Wang Junjie scored 31 points and 19 rebounds in a single game and helped the team win the national championship. He also won the MVP, and has since been followed by fans who are paying attention to youth basketball. Thanks to Hailiang's cooperation with NBA China, Wang Junjie was successfully selected into the NBA Global Elite Program in September 2019 and went to the Australian NBA Academy for training.

In April 2023, Wang Junjie joined the University of San Francisco in the NCAA Division I League. At the end of this year's sophomore season, his average time jumped to 20.1 minutes, averaging 6.3 points and 3 rebounds per game, gradually becoming the main player of the team in the middle and late periods of the season.

After going all the way, Wang Junjie embarked on a different path than before Chinese players.

Coach Zheng Bowen, the head coach of Hailiang men's basketball team who has been in contact with Wang Junjie in the fifth and sixth grades, knows him best: "He has always been an optimistic child. Even if he enters the national team, he has a clear self-awareness, can face his own strengths and weaknesses, and always strives not to be defeated by difficulties. This is the key to his current achievements. In terms of physical fitness and innate conditions, there are many excellent children of the same age in the country, but what is commendable is his excellent mentality."

From the introduction of Director Zheng, it is not difficult to see where Wang Junjie shows maturity beyond his age at both ends.

(photo provided by FIBA official website)